Telephone toll apparatus.



N0. 63l,023. Patented Aug. l5, I899; M. C. MENGIS.

TELEPHONE TOLL APPARATUS. (Application filed Sept. 13, 1889.) No Model.)2 Shets-$heet g y Vim w m: "cams PETERS cc. movuuwoq wnsmua'run v cUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MORRIS O. HENGIS, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

TELEPHONE TOLL APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 631,023, dated August15, 1899.

Applicationfiled September 13, 1889. Serial No. 323,851. (No model.) I

To all whom it may," concern.-

Be it known that I, MORRIS-O. MENGIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Telephone T011 Apparatus, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to telephone toll apparatus, or, in other words, tothat class of telephonic devices in which the deposit of a small sum ofmoney is made a precedent condition to communication or conversationwith another person at a distant station.

One purpose of my invention is to provide an apparatus of this type inwhich the deposit of a coin shall close the circuit between the stationwhere such deposit is made and the telephone-exchange station, asuitable signal being made at the latter point to attract the attentionof an operator and to indicate or identify the particular substationfrom which the call is made, whereby an attendant at the central-stationswitchboard can ascertain what station must be called up and plugged inin order to complete a talkingcircuit.

My invention also comprises other novel features, all of which will befully disclosed and explained in the following description and thenparticularly pointed out and defined in theclaims which conclude thisspecification.

For the purposes of said description reference will be had to theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of thecomplete telephone apparatus at a substation or pay-station. Fig. 2 is afront elevation, partly in section, upon a larger scale, showing thetoll apparatus, together with those parts of the telephone immediatelyadjacent thereto. Fig. 3 is a diagram of the circuits, the essentialparts of the toll apparatus being shown in vertical section.

The reference-letter A in said drawings indicates the magneto call-bell,the magneto B being arranged in the telephone-box D in the ordinary andwell-known manner. The telephone-receiver C hangs when not in use upon asupporting-hook g, which projects from the box upon which it is pivotedat h, its other end extending through a slot 0 in the wall of the box,into the interior of the latter, in its general construction andarrangement resembling the gravity-switch of the Bell telephone. Thetransmitter S, battery T, and induction-coil U require no specialdescription, as they are of the ordinary type.

The'hook gupon which the receiver normally hangs is provided with a slot1', formed longitudinally in the end which lies inside the box D. Aspring r, connected to the eX- tremity of the slotted part of the hookand to a rigid finger j below, normally draws the slotted end of thehook downward, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3. A vertical bar I, arranged tomove in a guidebracket J, mounted on the inner face of the box D, isconnected to the slotted part of the hook by a pin or screw 1'', tappedinto or otherwise secured to the bar I and lying in the slot i. The bartherefore will move vertically whenever the hook g is vibrated upon itspivot h. The equilibrium of the hook and the power of the spring r areso adjusted that when the receiver 0 is hung upon said hook its weightwill sufiice to overcome the spring and draw the slotted part of thehook g upward, thereby raising the bar I and holding it in its elevatedposition until the receiver is removed from the hook g,when the Weightof the bar and the tension of the spring combined will draw the slottedend of the hook g downward and retain it and the bar I at the lowestpoint to which they are capable of moving.

The bar I may be formed of any suitable non-conducting material or itmay be of conducting metal. In the latter case it would be provided atits upper end with a non-conducting point 71 which bears against aspringcontact 70 when the bar I is raised and presses it against a rigidcontact at. These contacts lie in and form part of the circuit whichincludes the magneto B, call-bell A, and the main line L L, as moreparticularly described hereinafter.

At its lower end the bar I is provided with two separateelectrically-isolated contact-- blocks c" 22 which lie in and are usedto make and break a circuit, which will be fully explained at the properpoint hereinafter.

The telephone-box D is provided with a suitable coin-openingZ and acoin-chute Z, which I have shown arranged vertically, though this is nota necessary feature of my invention.

Below the lower end of the chute is placed a suitable receptacle for thecoin, such as a drawer m. In Fig. 2 of the drawings the drawer or otherreceptacle is directly beneath the lower end of the chute, whereas inFig. 3 the drawer is removed somewhat to one side, and between it andthe lower end of the chute Z an inclined guide Z is interposed. Thepurpose of this modified form will be explained in its order.

Below the lower end of the bar I and of the coin-chute Z lies acoin-operated lever 0, having a fulcrum 0. This point of support isremoved somewhat from the center of the lever or from the point whereperfect equilibrium would be obtained, so that the part of the leverbetween the fulcrum 0' and the chute Z will be somewhat longer than thepart on the other side of the fulcrum. A substantially horizontalposition is maintained, however,

by a weight 1), which is connected to the lever by a rigid arm 0 justbeneath the fulcrum 0. Upon the short arm (1 of the lever, near its end,is mounted a single contact-piece n. Being a bridging-contact, thisengagement completes the circuit in which the contacts 'u and r areincluded. So, also, when the receiver is upon the hook g the bar I israised by its weight to such a point that when a coin is dropped in thechute Z and falls upon the end of the long arm n of the lever the latteris able to turn far enough to drop the coin into the drawer m and at thesame time establish for a moment the circuits completed by means of thecontacts carried by the short arm of said lever. On the other hand, whenthe receiver is off the hook g the bar I is dropped so far as to limitthe movement of the lever upon its pivot 0 when the coin descends uponit. This limited movement brings the contacts carried by the short arm(1 of the lever against the contacts These contacts arrest the leverbefore it moves far enough to permit the coin to drop ofi the end of thearm 01, upon which said coin remains as long as the receiver 0 is not onthe hook.

When the receiver is placed upon its hook g,

its weight causes the bar I to rise until it is stopped by its point 2'coming against the spring-contact it. By this movement its lower end israised to such a point that the leverarm q can rise still further underthe weight of the coin resting on its other arm n. The latter beingcorrespondingly depressed, sufficient space is given between its end andthe lower end of the chute Z to allow the coin to pass into theguide-chute Z and thence into the coin-drawer. Until this movement ofthe lever takes place the coin must remain resting thereon, since in thenormal position of The call-circuit by which the central station issignaled is from one 'pole of the bat tery T over wire 6, through theprimary winding of the induction-coil U,thence bya branch wire it to thecontact 41 through the bridgecontact at, contact Q), and wire a to theother pole of the battery. The current induced in the secondary windinggoes to the line, this part of the circuit being too plain to needdescription.

The circuit of the magneto B is by awire b to the line-wire L with areturn by line-wire L, through the receiver 0 by wire 12 to the contacta, and from the contact by a wire 12 back to the magneto.

The telephone-circuit, so far as the induction-coil, battery,transmitter, and receiver are concerned, does not difier from thatordinarily employed, the transmitter and battery being in the primaryand the receiver and line-wire in the secondary. It should be understoodthat this call-circuit is closed by dropping a small coin of a givenvalueas, for example, a nickel-into the coin-chute Z, the receiver 0being allowed to remain upon the hook g. r

In order that the person calling may be put in communication withanother substation, the attendant at the central-station switchboardafter learning the number or call of the station with which conversationis desired directs the person who has called for that station to replacehis receiver upon its hook and then to drop a specified sum in thecoin-chute in addition to the single coin which was used to call up thecentral station.

What I claim is- 1. In a telephone toll apparatus, the com bination witha coin-chute, of a coin-operated lever having one end arranged beneaththe exit end of said chute, a contact normally limiting the movement ofthe lever and preventing the escape of the coin from the chute, andmeans operated by the hook supporting the receiver to raise said contactand permit a further movement of the lever whereby the coin can pass outof the chute, substantially as described.

2. In a telephone toll apparatus, the combination with a coin-chute, ofa pivoted coinlever having one end under the exit end of the chute, anda bridgingcontact on the other end, contact-blocks over saidbridgingcontact to limit the movement of the lever and prevent the coinresting on its other end from passing off and out of the hute, acallcircuit including said contacts,'and a support for thecontact-blocks raised by the receiverhook, when the receiver is placedon the latter, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

MORRIS C. MENGIS.

XVitnesses:

JOHN E. MORRIS, JNo, T. IVIADDOX.

